Web video from Hulu, CBS, ESPN, etc, is great, but it is generally stuck on your PC. Sure, you can hook up a PC to the TV, and some web video is available on set-top boxes, such as YouTube on TiVo, but it is still limited. There are are some devices which allow access to more of the sites, like the D-Link DSM-520, but then you need Yet Another STB in your A/V stack. What to do? Well, PlayOn from MediaMall Technologies can help.

PlayOn installs on your Windows XP or Windows Vista PC, and acts as a kind of transcoding proxy for web video. It retrieves the web video and streams it to DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compatible devices such as the PlayStation3, Xbox 360, and HP MediaSmart TVs. While those are the officially supported devices, they state that they will work to expand the list, and since they’re using DLNA I’m thinking may work on other DLNA devices even if not officially supported. They currently tout support for Hulu, CBS, YouTube, and ESPN, and promise Netflix support “just down the road”. They’ve also promised playback on the Nintendo Wii “by the end of 2008″. PlayOn is currently in beta, and MediaMall plans to charge $30 for the final product when it is ready for release.

MediaMall also has a blog where you can keep track of their development efforts. In a post there they reiterate that Netflix will be added before GA (that’s general availability, aka the official release for the non-geeks), and also state that CNN will be in before GA. MediaMall also develops the ActiveTV platform that powers the above mentioned DSM-520, which supports a plethora of web video sites, so it seems logical that they’d be bringing that know-how over to PlayOn to add more sites over time. After all, PlayOn was only released to beta on Monday.

Picked up from EngadgetHD.

I’ve been really busy lately, so I didn’t cover the announcement a week ago that VUDU is bringing ‘adult entertainment’ to their box via a partnership with AVN (Adult Video News). That could boost interest in VUDU’s box, and could provide some competition for the adult-only FyreTV.

Now they’re following up on that with a deal they’re calling ‘99 for 99′. A rotating selection of 99 titles available to rent for just $.99 each. That blows away Amazon’s weekend sales, which generally only have an handful of titles for $.99, when they have any for that little. EngadgetHD has VUDU’s press release.

Thanks to Darren over at EngadgetHD, who noticed that what everyone’s suspected would occur seems to have come to pass. TiVo has quietly removed the Series3, the company’s original HD DVR, from its offerings. Both new and refurbished product listings now include only the dual-tuner, standard-definition TiVo Series2DT, and the dual-tuner, high-definition TiVo HD.

TiVo has said that they’d be focusing further development on the TiVo HD platform architecture, so this comes as little surprise. In fact, we’ve talked about it here before. It’s a shame, though, for those looking for the premium experience offered only by the Series3, with its THX certification, fancier remote, and front-panel OLED display, not to mention larger hard drive.

Before long, we’d hope to see the stock TiVo HD kicked up a notch with its own larger hard drive; as more and more of what people watch shifts to HD channels, a twenty-hour capacity for HD recordings will seem stingier and stingier. Western Digital’s My DVR Expander external hard drive helps, and expansion kits and services from third parties like DVRUpgrade and WeaKnees are great for those who don’t mind modified hardware, but simply put, the average consumer wants to buy a standard product that’s all he or she needs.

So, as we wistfully recall the dear, departed TiVo Series3 (and as aficionados scramble to find remaining stock on store shelves or from DVRUpgrade and other online vendors with small stocks), we look forward to future configurations of the new flagship product, the TiVo HD.

They explain, in simple terms, why all HDTV is not the same. While the only qualification necessary to be considered ‘high-definition’ is a resolution of 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, the standards don’t say anything about the level of compression. So while a 54Mbps 1080p Blu-ray data stream and a 4Mbps 1080p VUDU data stream are both technically high-definition, there is quite a bit more data building the Blu-ray image - and hence the viewer sees a better picture. And the same goes for HDTV channels, compression varies channel to channel, and even program to program on the same channel. The article is worth checking out if you’ve wondered why some HD programs look better than others.

Picked up from EngadgetHD.

While Toshiba officially called HD DVD dead back in February, the technology has lingered on in China. Before the end of the format war, Toshiba had begun working on ‘CH-DVD’, a special version of HD DVD for the domestic Chinese market. And this effort didn’t die with HD DVD, instead it has been renamed CBHD - China Blue High-definition Disc. Now the first CBHD devices are coming to market with Shanghai United Optical Disc establishing the first CBHD disc pressing production line, and multiple players slated for retail, according to DIGITIMES. However, the format currently lacks any major studio support. It seems that, at best, it may receive domestic support.

Of course, the BDA hasn’t just been standing by while this happens, shortly after CH-DVD was announced the BDA announced that they too were considering the Chinese codecs. And taking it a step further, unlike CBHD, which is a ghetto standard restricted only to China, the BDA is considering adding the codecs to the global Blu-ray specification.

And, despite predictions from HD DVD fans that it would ‘never happen’, the BDA has approved several Chinese CE vendors to produce Blu-ray players. And even more players have been announced recently at SinoCES. With most of their major CE vendors cranking out Blu-ray players for the growing global market player availability will rise, while unit costs fall. With a limited domestic market, CBHD will have a hard time competing with the falling BD player costs.

DIGITIMES cites lower costs as the main advantage for CBHD over BD. An existing DVD line can be converted to press CBHD for around USD$800,000, while establishing a new BD line costs around USD$3,000,000. And the licenses required to produce a CBHD player are around USD$8.10, reportedly much less than the equivalent BD licenses. However, a BD production line can take orders for export discs as well, making it easier to keep the line busy - and making money. A CBHD line is only good for domestic disc pressing. And the licensing costs for BD are expected to drop sharply in the coming years. Plus a production line can be shared between domestic and export players, spreading the non-licensing overhead costs over a larger production base.

If the BDA can complete the China-ized version of the BD specification to receive Chinese governmental approval for the format, it should easily squeeze CBHD out of the market just as it did to HD DVD.

Picked up via EngadgetHD.

I mentioned Amazon’s planned video streaming service earlier this morning in my post about YouTube on TiVo, and now I see that, coincidentally, Amazon is releasing it to “a limited number of invited Amazon.com customers” starting today, according to The New York Times.

The new streaming service will apparently be called Amazon Video on Demand, and it will be distinct from Amazon Unbox, Amazon’s purchase and rental download service. The Times reports Amazon will have 40,000 titles available for instant streaming. I don’t see the new service as a replacement for Amazon Unbox, but rather a compliment. After all, you will need an active Internet connection to stream video on the new service. Unbox allows you to download video to watch later, off-line - such as on your laptop while on a plane, or on a PMP while traveling. And it is a fairly open secret that Amazon intends to offer HD content through Unbox, and true HD content does not lend itself to streaming on today’s networks. Streaming vs. downloads vs. physical media (DVD/BD) really lay along a convenience vs. quality curve, as a generalization. Streaming is instant gratification, but the lowest quality. Downloads take longer, but will generally offer higher bit rates and hence higher quality. And physical media, in the form of DVD, offers yet higher bit rates. As well as extras, often times audio formats not found on downloads or streams (5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS), additional languages, subtitles, etc. But with the inconvenience of a wait to receive the media. And Blu-ray is at the end of the scale with the highest bit rates, full 1080p HD, often 7.1 lossless audio, etc. All of these options compliment each other and will appeal to different users, or under different circumstances to the same user. (I myself buy a number of Blu-ray discs and love the quality. I also still buy some DVDs, though less now with BD. But I also use Amazon Unbox through my TiVo to check out movies I don’t have as strong an interest in, or impulse rentals due to sales, etc.)

Currently, aside from a PC, Amazon has a deal with Sony to make the streaming content available via Sony Bravia HDTVs. Today that requires the Sony Bravia Internet Video link, which is a $300 add-on. But in the future Sony is expected to build the Internet connectivity directly into new models in the Bravia line. Amazon says they’ll pursue relationships with other TV and Internet device vendors. Which, of course, begs the obvious question - what about their current flagship CE partner, TiVo?

While TiVo isn’t mentioned in the article, I really have to believe this is in the works. TiVo releases H.264 and video streaming support, and they just happen to do so on the same day Amazon makes their streaming service available to the first users? TiVo and Amazon already have a relationship with Unbox, an apparently very successful one, so you know they had to discuss the streaming service early on. With the infrastructure in place with 9.4, TiVo could throw the switch at any time just by updating the HME application that is used for all of the broadband video options. No further software update would be required in the field. I think it is a safe bet that we’ll see Amazon Video on Demand on the Series3 & TiVo HD in the future, perhaps the near future.

Picked up via EngadgetHD.

UPDATE: I went looking around Amazon to see if there was any information on the streaming trial, and on the Amazon Unbox page there was a link in the upper right to sign up for the beta. It says space is limited, so I’d jump on it, don’t procrastinate.

And just to fully confirm that Unbox downloads are not going anywhere:

The goal of this Beta is to test our new instant streaming feature. Don’t want to wait for your video to download? Want to avoid downloading additional software? Want to watch Unbox videos on a Mac? Amazon Video On Demand is the solution to these common customer requests. Purchase or rent a video and you will have instant streaming access to your video from any PC or Mac. All of the existing Unbox functionality remains. You can continue to download your videos for offline playback on a PC or TiVo.